Apple Maps Data Collection Team Member Spotted On Foot in San Francisco

This is a new one. At least one Apple Maps data collection team member has been spotted on foot, collecting data with a large, Apple Maps-branded, sensor-laden backpack.

Photo courtesy MacRumors

The gear in the backpack looks to be similar to that used on the Apple Maps vehicles’ rigs, with cameras, GPS, and LIDAR.The photos were shared with MacRumors by reader Dante Cesa.

While we don’t at this point know why Apple is doing on-foot data collection, it could be an effort to enrich the data used by Apple Maps to decide where pedestrians are allow and where they walk, possibly reducing any unnecessary time lost.

MacTrast Senior Editor, and self-described “magnificent bastard,” Chris Hauk owns Phoenix Rising Services and writes for everyone’s favorite “bad movie” website, Big Bad Drive-In. He lives somewhere in the deep Southern part of America. Yes, he has to pump in both sunshine and the Internet.